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SINGAPORE

OK, so keep in mind that I was by myself for most of this trip.  A far cry from the end of my Malaysian adventure and certainly less social than Thailand.  I did a lot of shopping here, or at least a lot of window shopping.  Was trying to avoid all the Christmas hub-ub.  Why do you think I chose the dates I did?  But I guess I didn't realize the North's Pole's home away from home was the Orchard Street Shopping District in Singapore!   Actually got to eat a big fancy dinner a t the top of a revolving restaurant.  Reminded me of home and was way cheaper and better food than the Space Needle. 

This was a little Barbie Universe.  Scared the crap out of me...

OK, so this is my new best friend Sidi.  He worked at the hotel I stayed at and volunteered to take me around a good part of the day.  I ate my first Durian.  They say it tastes like onions wrapped in custard.  It wasn't that bad, but it sure stunk to high heaven.  I ate almost an entire half.  They ban these things on public transportation because they smell so bad.  But gum is banned in Singapore too, so go figure...

...and here Sidi got me to eat snails for the first time.  I thought they'd be marinated in something at least, but I just smothered them in hot sauce and drank a buttload of beer.  It tasted pretty strange.

This is the Singapore Airport.  I loved this freakin' place.  I swear I spent almost as much time there than my entire time in Singapore.  I took the last train to the airport at 11pm or so because my flight left at like 6am and I didn't want to pay for a second night in a hotel.  They're pretty expensive out there.  The snowman here is HIGH-larious.  Someone knocked off his head, so they just readjusted the buttons down the middle to look like eyes and his scarf now looks like a samurai head thing. 

I also met Harlene.  Harlene had like over half a million frequent flyer miles on Northwest and takes people on international tours pretty regularly and has gone to Thailand like 5 times last year.  She snuck me into the exclusive, members only VIP Northwest Airlines lounge on the second floor near the boarding area.  There's even a big 'ol swimming pool in this airport!  Too bad I put my suit in my check-on luggage.  The lounge had free booze, finger sandwiches, a big fat magazine rack filled with French magazines, and all the hot cocoa I could drink.  This is just one step closer to feeling like I'm out of a developing country and slowly re-entering commercialism and rich folk. 

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